The 33rd SXSW Film & TV Festival featured 120 films, 52 short films, and 20 music videos. Highlights included 90 World Premieres, as well as several International, North American, and U.S. premieres. Programming also covered 13 TV projects (including premieres, spotlights, and pilots) and 31 XR Experience projects (spanning competitions, spotlights, and a special event).
This is not a full list of Jury and Audience Award winners, but includes several I saw or whose filmmakers I know. I want to share the diverse selections from both the audience and jury.
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT – Audience Award Winner: Campeón Gabacho
Director: Jonás Cuarón, Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón, Nicolás Celis, Screenwriters: Jonás Cuarón, Aura Xilonen
Synopsis: Campeón Gabacho tells the story of Liborio, an endearing and mischievous young migrant whose only talent is taking punches. He crosses the Rio Grande to escape a harsh reality in Mexico, looking for a better life in the United States, and settles in a Latino barrio in New York City. Through his fists, his love, and his words, he faces cultural walls and prejudices that threaten his hopes and becomes a hero in an unknown land.
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT – Audience Award Winner: Ceremony
Director/Producer: Banchi Hanuse
Synopsis: At the bank of the Bella Coola River, Nuxalk people listen to dreams, radio waves, to the silence left by the vanished ooligan run. Through drifting boats, archival records and animated ancestral folklore, their voices trace a rupture, an ecological collapse entwined with colonial violence. As a new generation rebuilds homes on forbidden land and rekindles ceremony, they ask whether the fish will return or if the people themselves must become the current that calls them home.
VISIONS – Audience Award Winner: Daughters of the Forest
Director/Screenwriter: Otilia Portillo Padua, Producers: Paula Arroio, Elena Fortes, Otilia Portillo Padua
Synopsis: A story of entanglements: between humans and mushrooms; the visible and the invisible; generational knowledge and modern science. This sci-fi documentary invites us to reconsider the experiences of both human and non-human inhabitants of our world. We follow Lis and Juli, two young scientists from indigenous communities that have long lived in symbiosis with the many mushrooms in their regions. The world they know is changing, and their pursuits are threatened by deforestation, lack of opportunity, and loss. Still, they share how mushrooms show us different possibilities of coexistence, helping them overcome obstacles to reshape their lives and futures.
GLOBAL Presented by MUBI
Audience Award Winner: Mickey
Director: Dano García, Producers: Dano García, Indira Cato, Joceline Hernandez, Alejandra Guevara Castillo, Christian Giraud, Screenwriters: Dano García, Tonatiuh Israel
Synopsis: Mickey spent the last ten years exploring her transition process within the conservative context of Sinaloa, Mexico. Through digital archives, artistic reenactments, and deep personal encounters, the film moves between tenderness and rage, transforming memory into an act of freedom. An exploration of self-perception and a non-punitive confrontation with the past.
Sponsor – MUBI: a global streaming service, production company, and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema—from iconic directors to emerging auteurs.
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Below are the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Jury and Special Award winners. This section celebrates the outstanding creativity and talent of filmmakers and designers in the SXSW Film & TV program and features jurors’ quotes by category.
Special Jury Award for Screenwriting: Robb Boardman, Cory Loykasek, Donny Divianian, and Frankie Quinones, Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film
“How perfect that a caper comedy about solitary men connecting with their neighbors is itself a tribute to collaboration. Together, four screenwriters assembled a script of impressive intricacy and ambition that’s at once serious about the crisis of social isolation, while also being a super silly good time. The themes are universal; the jokes and callbacks are tight, specific, and hilarious. Best of all, every character in this gigantic ensemble gets a moment to shine. Now that’s teamwork.”
Green Lens Award
Launched this year in partnership with the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance, the Green Lens Award honors the TV or Film project that best reflects our changing world, the human experience of living through the age of climate change, or pathways to a more sustainable future.
Winner: Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film directed by Robb Boardman
“A refreshingly creative reflection on connection, responsibility, and what it means to care for the world around us, this film uses humor and absurdity to explore our relationship with nature and the power it has to bring us together. The story’s contrasts sharpen its environmental themes. The film highlights the quiet but meaningful act of nurturing life, reminding us that even small gestures of care can challenge apathy and spark change. We hope comedies like this encourage creatives to take on a ‘Green Lens’ in their stories across any genre, so that the future of climate and environmental content can continue to relate to a broad audience with laughter, love, and some truly crazy capers.”
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Winner: Rawayana and Bomba Estereo – ‘Fogata’ directed by Paola Ossa
“Through its nuanced, artistic approach, this video conveys a sense of emotion that’s powerful and sincere. A gorgeous narrative unfolds through the director’s choice of shots, cinematography, and sound design. The actors’ performances feel understated and natural, leaving the viewer invested in the connection between the characters. A sublime example of less being more, and art working through many small moments to achieve something universal.”
Special Jury Award: Son of a Bikram from Showrunners and Screenwriters Ash T and Johnny Rey Diaz, and Director Johnny Rey Diaz
“This unique spin on cultural identity crisis takes its viewer into a surreal and bizarre universe where you should never meet your heroes. For blending drama and comedy and infusing it with distinct and memorable characters, Special Jury recognition goes to Son of a Bikram.”
NEON Auteur Award
NEON stands as a passionate champion of films, filmmakers, and film festivals—a trailblazer empowering independent cinema.
Winner: The Peril at Pincer Point directed by Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine
“It’s a miracle when any movie is made, but it’s particularly miraculous when a movie is so quixotic and singular that it somehow feels like it’s willing itself into existence as you’re watching it. That’s certainly the case with Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine’s The Peril at Pincer Point, a truly wonderful discovery at this year’s festival.”
For an even more detailed list of award winners, visit sxsw.com/festivals/film-awards/#twentysix.
Source: SXSW, Pimienta Films